Casualty Report: Erik Fischer

MONGOLIAN DEATHWORM — FOUND?

Australian researcher found dead in the Gobi Desert under mysterious circumstances.

by Morgan Key

10/3/2022

Pictured: dashboard camera footage captures Erik Fischer seconds before presumed death.

A mysterious tragedy struck a small town in the Gansu region of Mongolia, on the border of the Gobi Desert, when a visiting environmental researcher was found dead.  

Identified as Erik Fischer, the camera built into the researcher's jeep captured chilling footage of his demise in an attack by what many believe to be a "Mongolian Deathworm", a strange cryptid long rumored to call the Gobi Desert its home.

Recorded around 9:30 pm, the footage shows Fischer's jeep stopping on a deserted trail near the edge of the desert. Fischer, reported to be alone, is seen exiting his car with a flashlight and stops to investigate something on the side of the road, perhaps taking an environmental sample as part of his survey.

The footage continues, capturing something large attacking Fischer, pouncing onto him from the side of the road and pinning him to the car off-camera. Footage continues silently for some time until the recording limit was reached, with no reappearance of the attacking "animal" or Fischer.  

Fischer's body was not found until two days after this recording, when another researcher drove past his vehicle during an early morning commute to another work site. Local authorities state that the body, and the hood of the vehicle, were completely destroyed, as if by acid. An investigation is ongoing into the true identity of this creature, or if this may have been a chemical spill or attempt at obfuscating a traffic incident.

Cryptozoologist Martin Burr states that there is a long history of sightings of the suspected Deathworm in the area, but that there hadn't been a reported sighting since 2001. Persistent legends of the cryptid claim it is a subterranean species of worm, or snake, that subdues prey with acidic venom or electric discharge. No true evidence of the worm has ever been gathered but, now, biologists from around the world are flocking to this small part of the desert to investigate.

Erik Fischer is survived by a husband, who has now declared war on this mysterious cryptid and intends to "destroy the desert itself if necessary," according to an interview.